The Hunt

On Saturday (day before Easter) Daddy T and Carson went with Gma & Gpa Tompkins and Michelle to an Easter egg hunt at a country club in town. (I stayed home to work on my paper--did I mention it's now done?) Here's some pics of Carson's first hunt.

This was the room for newborns through 3 years old. Those newborns didn't give him any trouble.
Do you like his manly basket? Daddy picked it out.
Time to go home.

Done!

As of 1:48 this afternoon, I am DONE with my class! Yeah! Oh, man, it feels good. Three rough weeks, but I will say it was probably the quickest and cheapest way for me to take care of that so that I can renew my license. The final paper turned out to be 13 pages, and if you ever want to know my views and research on Preventing Behavior Disruptions Through Classroom Instruction and Physical Environment....well, I'll email it to you, because I don't feel like discussing it any time soon.

We had a lovely Easter, although I got such a bad head/chest cold that I completely lost my voice and couldn't sing with the worship choir. I hacked my way through the services in my chair with the fam. The Tompkins' took us out to a fantastic Easter brunch, after which Carson and I had an equally fantastic 2-hour nap. I decided against purchasing an expensive, brightly colored maternity dress that would surely be sleeveless and need bare legs and sandals, since it was pouring down rain yesterday. I just wore this bright t-shirt, which, now that I'm seeing the picture, seems to have partnered with my undergarments to kind of turn my entire frontside into a massive lump from neckline to thigh, but whatever. I wasn't cold and didn't have to buy a new dress.

Here you go: 25 weeks. Same pants as last pic. In other exciting news, we decided a little while ago to pinch our pennies and make a last-minute trip to California. We have talked for a while about trying to do something big before the baby came, kind of a last hurrah for Carson as King of the Castle, but several pieces fell together to make this the weekend. We are fortunate enough to have some of our best friends and some family who live in Southern Cal, so when we vacation down there, it is fairly cost-efficient, since we don't have to pay for any lodging. Also, we have a wonderful friend who hooked us up with FREE Disneyland tickets for 2 days. Also, we had enough miles to pay for my flight. SO, we're going to be down there about a week, hopping from house to house, trying to visit everyone. I am REALLY excited to take Carson to Disneyland. I know that you have to keep your expectations low with a 2 year old, but it's too late. I'm expecting him to love every minute and not have a single meltdown. It is the happiest place on earth, after all. ;)
Stay tuned for my reality check post next week on how it all actually went down.

Taking a Break

So, I'm taking a break from writing my paper. This is the longest one, with 3200 words required, which I'm thinking will be about 10 pages. It's nothing compared to some that I used to write in undergrad and grad, and I really don't feel like complaining about it when my friend JJ lost his 43 page master's thesis when his computer crashed! I've been blessed to have grandmas and aunties and daddy take Carson for a few extra hours these last 3 weeks so I could get some work time alone. Otherwise, I'm not sure how I would have done it! Only 2 days, this big paper and some easy response work left. I've got my favorite coffee creamer--coconut!--with some half-caf and am working away. Until this break, of course.

A funny thing that has happened while I've been really busy is that Carson has gotten really into playing on the computer. Our favorite website for him is PBS kids, because it is easy to maneuver around and I am pretty confident the content is safe for him. For a long time, he would sit on our "yaps" and we would look at the games, pictures, songs, etc. Then we ended up going to the Curious George pages a LOT--it has a lot of games on it. He got really comfortable with moving the mouse and clicking on what he wants. So, I started teaching him how to get from one game back to the "games" menu page, and on every page there is a big icon for PBSkids which takes him back to the Main page menu. But I usually was still called to the computer every 2 minutes or so to help--usually because the game was too hard for him (they're mostly preschool level). Here is a little video from about a week and a half ago, when we made a big breakthrough. I left the room and Carson had chosen and clicked on a game by himself. When I walked in, his face lit up and he said "I yike this game! It not too hard! I do it myself!" The big breakthrough was that he was not just clicking, but clicking and dragging. Sheesh. On this particular video, he had trouble at the end and got frustrated.

Since then, the time slots of him working alone have increased. This morning, Carson woke up at 6:27. boo. He was WIDE awake, and Trent and I were NOT. So, we brought him in our room (where the computer is now) and I set him up on the computer with a little lamp on while we dozed 10 feet away. I didn't hear from him again until 6:50! I would have rather kept sleeping longer, but it was a marvelous little snooze button. It's also a little scary thinking my 2 year old is on the computer by himself. What is in store for this generation and technology?

I'm Pro-Noun

Oops. Forgot to put the lid on the sandbox table. Oh well. Now it's the mud table.
It is quite humorous listening to Carson work on learning the English language. One of the phrases we are working on is "WHO is that?" Whenever I get off the phone, he says "What was that?" And I gently correct him.

Another tough thing is gender pronouns. We've watched Mike's ski video several times. If you haven't seen it, it is basically Mike making several attempts at a jump. EVERY time Mike makes the run, Carson says: "What her name?" And I say: "What's HIS name? That's Uncle Mike." Another run, 3 seconds later. "What her name?" "That's still Uncle Mike." And on and ON and ON!! "They are ALL Uncle MIKE! It's just him, over and over! GOT IT!?!?" Nope. He doesn't have it. "What her name?" So last time I just started making up who was behind the ski mask. "That's Uncle Chad." "Oh. Yeah," he says. "That's Clifford. That's Grandma JoJo. That's Baby Jack." Nothing...still "What her name?" every single time. Sigh.

And one more for those of you patient enough to still be reading. Yesterday we were playing in C's room and I was pretending to go to bed. (A favorite game of this tired preggo.) He would tuck me in and then he started saying "Nigh-night. Stay in your bed. Jesus is with you. Be quiet. I'll check on you. I love you." Which made me crack up, because those are all things we have said to him when he is going to bed. Sharp little memories, those 2 year olds.

Update

The blog breaks are continuing, and I am as busy as predicted, but wanted to update those of you who are interested:

*Still pregnant. 24 weeks, I think. Lots of little kicks and punches inside. Big brother is ridiculously cute about it all, wanting lots of kisses for his little sister. Today he even wrapped up a one-dollar coin for her in a kleenex and brought it to my tummy.

* Three papers down and one (BIG) one left! Two weeks of online class done and one to go.

*Operation Big Boy Bed has had some successes and setbacks. Fortunately, the novelty is wearing off, which is a start. Bed time goes more smoothly than nap time, and I've spent more than a few minutes lying in the bed WITH our big boy. And of course, usually I fall asleep too. It's much more comfortable than the floor next to the crib, which sometimes happened!

*Missing all the blog correspondence, so everyone else keep posting! (Especially pics of my nephew, please.)

Kissin' Cousins

I don't know if it's still considered a confession when most of you know this, but here goes anyway: Trent and I are related. By more than our marriage. This uncomfortable punchline was discovered almost 12 (!) years ago in the summer of 1996 when we first started dating. Our parents lived only about 40 minutes from each other, and so were very curious to meet the family of their child's new significant other. When we were home from college, Trent's family invited mine over for dinner. Trent and I had already realized that we came from similar backgrounds, the same denominational church and even attended the same camp for most of our lives, so we figured the folks would at least get along.

What we did NOT expect was to step outside of the BBQ for a few minutes, then come back inside to see our moms holding hands and for one (I can't remember which) to say with glee: "Guess what?!? We're RELATED!" I can only imagine the blank stare and dropped jaw look on our faces. Did this mean we had to break up? Why were they so happy? Turns out if you go back five "great's," then his mom and I are the same generation of a family line. This was unsettling for me, but downright annoying for my dear, commitment-phobe husband. He was hoping our parents would meet, be cordial, and then go their own ways until we either broke up or got married 7 years down the road. To have them LIKE each other and be RELATED was not in his plans. Of course, our first question was...what does this mean? We all pretty much agreed that the relation is so far back that hopefully it wouldn't gross anyone out and that if we ever had kids (the discussion of which, at that point, also sent Trent into cold sweats) hopefully they wouldn't be deformed.

Obviously it did not stop us from getting married (5, not 7 years later), we have had one beautiful, non-deformed child, and other than a not-so-subtle reminder from Trent's uncle every time we see him, it hasn't really come up. Then last night Trent was going through a bunch of stuff his mom gave him from their house. Stuff like his high school yearbooks, pictures of old girlfriends (thrown away, thank you very much) and some family memorablia. One of the things--from HIS family--was an old Bible from 1881 signed from father to son, John Mulkey to J.F. Mulkey, if I'm reading the handwriting right. Mulkey is MY family's name! It's my mom's maiden name. To see that name on stuff coming from Trent's family was just a little reminder that our children's family tree doesn't branch out exactly like most people's! Ha! We both looked at each other with these awkward smiles and thanked the Lord that Carson has only one head and all his limbs. I guess it's just God's sense of humor to have us find each other in a world of non-relatives.

Big Boy...big changes!

I have to take a moment to announce an exciting new change in the household--the crib is dissasembled and the big boy bed has taken it's place! Carson has been told about this coming change for many days, and has seemed excited about it. We even checked out some big beds that some of his friends have recently aquired. Here is the Big Boy with his new bed and new and still wrinkled bedding.

Here I'm pretty sure he is explaining the news to anyone within earshot.

I will spare you the details of the decision/discussion on toddler bed vs. twin bed, as well as the victory of finding a total steal on the bed and a dresser ($150 for both!), and especially the insane headache that was putting together the bed and the dresser, which reminded me why it was such a great deal. I will tell you that the first night in the bed was NOT good. It took over 3 hours for Carson to fall asleep from the time we started our nightly bedtime ritual. (He kept crying: "I want my crib!" and ended up sleeping on the crib mattress on the floor NEXT to the big bed.) Last night was night #2 and it went a little better (45 minutes), and he slept IN the big bed. We're hoping this is a trend that continues. Thank you all for your genuine or feigned interest in the minutiae of our lives. Now...back to my schoolwork.

Warning! Blog breaks coming.

So, I know all three of you regular readers really need to know my blogging schedule, so I wanted you to be aware that I'm starting an on-line course today, and I'm anticipating it causing less than 100% involvement in several other areas of maintenance in my life. Blogging, showering, sleeping, cooking and general correspondence will be some of the first to go. God, in His providence, graced me with NO sub job today, even though I was dressed and ready to go--and Grandma T has C-dog! This is actually a huge blessing, because my to-do list is a mile long (including a partially made Big Boy Bed sitting in the next room--more on that soon) and I just checked out my new online course. Excuse my french for those of you who are sensitive, but holy crap! It is going to be intense. It is a 3 unit graduate course crammed into 3 weeks. Four different papers are due, as well as 8 postings a week on at least 4 separate days. I know most of you who have done this before am thinking what a wimp I am, but even when I went to get my masters I was able to drop everything else in my life (pre-kiddo), stop working and spread these 3 unit classes out for 15 weeks! So, needless to say, I'm a little nervous. I need this class to keep my license.

So, to hold you over for a few days, here are some random Carson shots. Is Carson:

a)making another awkward attempt to smile for the camera?

b) pooping

c)mimicking Daddy's dance moves or

d)pretending he's a "yion"

(answer is d)

Ugg.
Making himself at home, taking pics with my defunct camera.
What to do first thing in the morning? Crawl into the cupboard and empty it out. What else?

Awards Night (and a retraction)

Yes, that sounds like the dinner you'd have at Pietro's Pizza at the end of your T-ball tournament, when the coach would give out certificates to every player from Most Improved to Best Encourager. But this awards night was the dinner for the hospital employees, where Trent received his Service Excellence award. The retraction is that the person who informed Trent initially of the award accidentally misled us to believe that only one person receives the award(which I then posted on this blog), when actually it's a small handful of people. But still....out of 3600 employees.

And several hundred were there last night at the convention center ballroom. Nice place, free dinner and drinks, and yes! The limo ride did happen. Every five years as an employee you get to come to this dinner and be recognized, along the few that get the service award.

There was a lady at our table who got the service award last year and she knows Trent. Apparently, the small group that wins becomes the selection committee for the following year. She went on and ON about Trent and told me that the initial nomination card (from a coworker) was nothing compared to the amazing things people said about him once they started interviewing patients and other colleagues. She told me about 12 times how proud of him I should be. I assured her I was. She also said Trent will be even more humbled when he sees next year how intense the process is and how many are deserving. This year 210 employees were nominated, about a dozen received the award. The employees recognized ranged from therapists to docs to nurses to janitors to cafeteria workers. It was really neat.

Anyway, it was a nice evening and fun to get dressed up and ride in a limo--first time since our wedding! It was POURING rain outside (of course) so no pics ont he outside of the limo, just on the inside.

The pregnant woman doesn't have a seatbelt, but at least the guest of honor does.

Each person who received the special award had to have a mini photo-shoot.

In the limo after dinner, holding his award.